976-Evil and what makes a B-movie questions

[Haze]

Okay, here it is. First off, I was approached today and the question was brought up, "What makes a B-movie a B-movie" and to tell you the truth I'm not sure. So I'm wondering if any of you could tell me what you think about this question.

Secondly, where can I get 976-Evil on VHS? I swear this is really hard to find where I am. Thanks in advance.

[Fearless Freep]

> 976-Evil

It an it's sequal are available at my local Hollywood Video; should I give them a shot?

[Haze]

The sequel has it's own B-movie charm...........

The first one looks better and the premise is awesome so I would say go for it.

[Fearless Freep]

Maybe I'll make it a double bill this week

[Brian Ringler]

it's out on dvd for $15 or vhs used from amazon for $2.25 at the lowest currently

[Haze]

thank you again..........

[Chadzilla]

Once upon a time...(and I'm not being sarcastic, just so you know)

There were places called movie theaters with only one screen, there was usually only one or two to a town (major cities had more) and they showed all kinds of things...movies, animated shorts, newsreels, serials, and heck you could probably get an actual live act thrown in - some dude on an organ, a magician, some comedy routine, puppet shows, who knows.  Always more than one movie played..and they came to be called double bills.  The kiddie stuff (adventure serials and family fare) would be show in the afternoon and the adult stuff (melodramas, etc) in the evening.   There was a feature film (one that starred an established star, say Cary Grant, Greta Garbo, or someone else) and then a b-movie to follow said feature.  B-features were lower/modest budget efforts, usually of the programmer type (i.e. western, gangster, thriller, etc) and featured lesser known talents on their way up, or talents that just don't have that 'magic', or just simple blue collar working class Hollywood types (i.e. what we call character actors today).  

Now Hollywood had a lot more individualized control at the time so there was a thing called contract players (well known contract players were called stars and the reason they were well known is because the studios groomed them to be by controlling their public appearances as such in the newsreels and public arena - if you got in the bad graces of some Jack Warner or David Selznick your career could be ruined and many a star was 'punished' by getting cast in a 'bad movie' chosen just to embarass them).  Many performers who were thought to have 'star' quality started off in b-movie programmers to see if that potential would pan out.  B-movies were also created by independent companies to fill regional or smaller theaters with product (later they would be called exploitation movies).

As the entertainment medium changed (i.e. drive-ins for the teenage and family market exploded) and television ate away at revenue as well as producer control so did the nature of b-movies, more and more they were the mainstay of independent and regional distributors rather than major Hollywood companies (which would pick up b-movies to distribute - yes Hammer I'm looking at you - rather than produce their own).  By the seventies b-movies were solely the domain of independent (i.e. AIP, New World, Film Ventures International etc.) and regional filmmakers (Charles -Legend of Boggy Creek- B. Pierce or Bill-The Giant Spider Invasion-Rebane).  That radical variance in term of quality (be it production or artistic) led to such slang terms as 'Grade Z' filmmaking, etc.

Again the entertainment industry changed and video ate up the grindhouse (all the movies you could watch for five bucks!), adult theaters, and drive-ins (although the drive-in is looking at a comeback).  Why go out when you can stay in?  Most DTV and made for cable movies today are no different from the programmers of old (the Friday the 13th series is good example of a contemporary programmer type movie - the plots and so forth remain basically the same, just fill in the blanks with this and that).

Today b-movie stands for something a little different than it once did (some think that the b stands for bad, but it really stands for a non A-list cast or production team, so Eight Legged Freaks really is a true blue b-movie, as it does not feature 'major' stars or a major A-list director at the helm), but the heart remains the same.  Or so I like to think.  But a true blue b-movie a marketable release meant to fill in the space between 'major' productions.

Hope that answers the question.

[Mofo Rising]

976-EVIL was directed by Robert Englund.  Freddy Krueger himself.  (Y'know, according to IMDb, Englund's dad designed the U2 spy plane.)

It also stars a young Stephen Geoffreys, who's somewhat notorious in the b-movie biz.  Still, he's got his own fan base.  What did that lady say about Moe Syzlak?  "He's got this insecure, sweaty charm."

Anyway, the movie isn't really very good, but it's enjoyable enough in it's own cheesy way.  Probably worth a rental, I don't know about a purchase.  Wasn't the DVD just released last week?

The second film is also enjoyable in it's way, but not as memorable as the first.  Spike, the protagonist from the first film shows up to warn people about the 976-EVIL number.  After the first half it kind of forgets about that plot device and goes into it's own about a professor who can travel the "astral plane".

All in all, not good but not that bad.  Probably suitable for a double bill.

[Fearless Freep]

well, I watched most of the first one last night and my one complaint is that it just seems a little slow going.  With the premise, it seems they could've done a lot more, sooner and more frequently, to be scarier.  It's not bad, just ..slow

[Will]

I like the sequel....Jim Wynorski always makes things suitably cheesy....but a special place is reserved in my heart for Stephen Geoffries....not only is he Evil Ed, but he does porn now...

[Fearless Freep]

Interesting seeing Robert Picardo ("The Doctor" from Star Trek: Voyager) in "976-EVIL" as the scum guy running all the 976 numbers